Performance

There is full N-key rollover USB here out of the box, as Aqua's test confirms. Similarly, no key chatter was detected on all the keys using Switch Hitter.

When you first connect the keyboard to your computer, it powers on with the full keyboard breathing lighting effect applied. The transition animation is smooth, and there are on-board controls for backlighting as well in case you prefer not to use the driver. The manual has a nice cheat sheet for the various pre-programed functions assigned to the Fn + layer, and here, we get brightness control (five steps), backlight effects (all eight of them), and turn backlighting on or off entirely.


Given the single color backlighting here, color fidelity had to be accurate. The white backlighting at 100% is true to color, but it appears to have a yellow hue to it if you turn down the brightness. For what it is worth, if I had to choose a single color I would have gone with white. Marketing surveys conducted by multiple other companies suggest red and blue to be more popular, so be aware of this if you do not prefer white backlighting. There is minimal light bleed here owing to the thicker, taller case that extends past the bottom of the keycaps, and it is not a big factor for single color backlighting either. The LEDs are not the brightest even at 100% brightness, but they did the job and a half even in a very dark room.

Here are some of the possible lighting effects as demonstrated, including breathing mode and some of the type-responsive effects. Hopefully, this helps illustrate what is possible with the keyboard, and I would have liked to see onboard controls for the effect speed as well, but the lack of this is quite understandable on this 60% form factor keyboard.

As with any form factor that is smaller than TKL, there is no one standard for the entire keyboard, so companies go with what they feel is the best solution for customers. In this case, the 61-key version of the ACGAM AG6X is filled to the brim with layered functions and, as mentioned before, do refer to the manual for a full list. Some of the things to note here are that the number and function key rows are combined, but the number keys are the default since the average user is more likely to need that than the function keys. The standard Shift + layer is left unchanged and works as expected. The other functions of the keyboard are all accessible via the Fn + layer. For example, Fn + 1 actuates F1, Fn + Esc is ~ (tilde), and Fn + R Alt is Left Arrow. The stock keycaps do a good job here, and there are also keyboard-specific functions tied in via symbols (such as for backlighting onboard controls), which can be confusing the first time around. In addition, the key assignment options available via the driver allow you to reprogram the base layer, but I do not recommend this until you are familiar with the Fn + layer to where the keycaps do not need to be a guide anymore. Usability of the keyboard is as good as it gets for a 60% form factor, and I dare say better than with keyboards of some of the more established companies as well. Note that the keyboard supports MacOS as well as Windows, although I have not tested this with the former so I do not have any thoughts about it's compatibility there.


As we saw before, ACGAM uses the Outemu Blue (from Gaote Corporation) mechanical switches with the AG6X. The force-travel diagram above shows that these are as close to a Cherry MX Clone as any other. Both are medium-actuation force tactile and clicky switches and, as tested by the Input Club, have similar designs throughout. The Outemu Blue is rated at a 50 +/-5 gf actuation point with a peak force of 60 gf, and a standard 2/4 mm for tactile feedback and total travel distance respectively as well. Actuation here ends up closer to 2.5 mm, and actuation force is harder to quantify here given the tactile event occurs before it. For what it is worth, the average actuation force was 49.24 cN across the twenty random switches I tested, and bottoming out felt just fine as well since nothing in particular stood out. If anything, I would say these feel smoother than most Cherry MX Blue switches.


As always, the sound of a keyboard is based on more than just the switch type. So when comparing sound clips, consider the keyboard as a whole. In this case, I have provided above an example sound clip of me typing on the AG6X review sample at ~70 WPM. For context, you can find sound clips from other keyboards here, including those with tactile and clicky switches. I did bottom out here as pointed out before, and chances are you will too.